An Old Journal
by Dracula 2.0
Summary: The tale of one death knight's experiences from waking, to serving the Lich King, to the betrayal, and the taking of Acherus. Story-ified DK start quest chain.
1. Teh Author'z Note

Teh Authur'z Note

Ok, a few things first off. One, I know some of the things in this wouldn't really happen in the Scourge army, such as taking the time out to be bandaged and heal. But come on, this is a story-ifyed game, and eating a mushroom to be insta-healed makes for a strange story-ifyed anything. Two, I tried to get the descriptions of the people and places as exact as I could, so don't jump on me if they aren't perfect. No one is. Also, a quest or two might be tweaked, because a commander doesn't say "Hey, go kill ten of these guys", he just tells you to kill them. And finally, I do NOT own WoW, death knights, Acherus, the Lich King, or anything else that someone could come up with to put in a disclaimer. I really wish I did and envy the lucky sonofagun that does. This is just a fanfic.

Remember! Flames beget flames. Be nice.

Reviewz plz! That way I will know who you are so I can go look over your stories.

Constructive criticism is always welcome! Please note: constructive.

Plz to proceed to teh readingz. =^w^=


	2. Entry 1

Entry 1

Life anew… It is truly a miracle! Or perhaps a curse, I have not been awake long enough to tell which. So many interesting things have happened in the course of a few hours… But I am getting ahead of myself.

The beginning is hazy, few things stand out clearly. I remember chanting, some arcane ritual, and dark magic, the feeling of it besetting my very bones. It was an excruciating experience, and seemed to last for hours. I have no idea how long it actually lasted, though I suspect it was not a great deal of time. I was then aware of cold stone beneath me and voices all around. The echoing of the voices slowed, their positions became more clear. I had narrowed it down to three distinct voices before I had the strength to open my eyes.

All was a blurry mass of colored patches. But soon faces were distinguishable. There were three people standing over me, two men and a woman. I could hear the voices, but it was like listening through a blanket. Over a short time they became clear. One man that was speaking looked anything but human. He was taller than a human and his face bore terrible scars. He wore armor of white and ice blue and had an air of power about him. The man and the woman wore the same robes and hoods and their faces had the same pallid color with darker markings across them.

I tried to speak, but my voice wouldn't work, tried to move, but my body was like someone else's. I could feel it but it would not obey me. The man with the scars smiled at me as he recognized that I was trying to move.

"Look at this one, awake for but a few moments and he is already trying to move." His voice was like ice, hollow and echoing. He was talking about me, that much was obvious. "Welcome back to the world of the living."

Welcome back? I didn't understand this. I was alive… wasn't I? It then dawned on me that I had no idea who or what or where I was. I glanced around at the black stone ceiling above me, the cold, icy walls, and the numerous undead ghouls crawling about the place. Save for the occasional human, like the two that stood above me, everyone here was _undead_. At this time I had no idea if this was a good thing or a bad thing, for I couldn't remember my life. I didn't know anything about myself, other than I had been risen from the grave for some reason.

Alarmingly, this sat better with me than it normally should have.

I struggled to speak, to ask questions. Who was I? Where was I? And if I was undead, why was I brought back? But all that came out was a sick, twisted screech, halfway scaring me and causing one of the humans above me to start.

The armored man laughed. "He's certainly got the fighting spirit. He will do nicely. Give him the welcome speech and send him to his master." He waited as the humans nodded and bowed, then strolled away, an amused grin on his face.

The two humans, necromancers, helped me to regain control of my body. Needless to say, it was quite difficult at first. Sitting up came quickly, and quicker still with their help, but I seemed to not know my own strength. I tried to raise a hand and ended up smacking the man in the face.

Balance was another thing entirely. It came naturally without much help once I had managed to get to my feet without any more casualties. The pair of humans presented me with a uniform that I had seen others about the place wearing. The armor sat lightly on my body and I hardly noticed it was there. I left the hood down for the time, wanting to see and hear everything I could until I knew exactly what was going on. The woman then explained to me that I was a death knight, an undead soldier risen into the ranks of the Scourge, a powerful undead army headed by the Lich King.

I understood now. My un-life had a purpose, to serve this man that chose me to give a second chance at life. There was something of a natural loyalty, or perhaps obligation, to return the favor to this man, though I had no idea who he was or why this Scourge army was fighting the living. It just seemed fitting that I, and undead warrior, would fight fearlessly for an undead leader. And there was the ever-present knowledge that he had given me new life. Me. He could have picked any of the other bodies piled up around the room. But he chose me, commanded his necromancers to give life to me. I couldn't let that go unrecognized.

The woman pointed to a silhouetted figure standing across the room. My new master, the Lich King. He stood out on a balcony I assumed, which meant we were in the air. I wondered briefly how high, but a sound intruded on my thoughts. Literally. It was a word spoken in my mind, in a voice like icy needles, deep and powerful, yet hollow, like a blanket of fog on the wind.

'Come.' the voice beckoned. I had to do nothing more than look ahead to know where it came from.

I approached slowly, intimidated by the Lich King's height and aura of cold and undeath. He was silent for a moment, staring out over the balcony. When he spoke it was unmistakably the voice I heard in my mind, and it held all the more power in person.

"All that I am… Anger, cruelty, vengeance -- I bestow upon you, my chosen knight. I have granted you immortality so that you may herald in a new, dark age for the Scourge."

He favored me more than I could have hoped. I knew I was a soldier, and that he saw something in me to have me risen over other candidates, but I was his chosen knight? This meant I had more power than I thought before, more potential to show him that his choosing was correct.

"Gaze now upon the lands below us." he pointed over the balcony. We were indeed in the air, a detail that the necromancers failed to address when explaining Acherus. I could vaguely make out a second floor beneath us, and the ground far, far below was nothing more than patches of color. But the colors were distinct. Black and sickly green, purple, and brown rested below us, while farther to the east there were much brighter, happier colors, bright blue sky and green fields. It made me sick just looking at it, let alone the thought of going down into it.

"The Scarlet Crusade scurries to undo my work, while Light's Hope stands defiantly against us -- a blemish upon these Plaguelands." The Scarlet Crusade, yes, the pitiful humans below must be them, and Light's Hope was their little church which they thought could save them from their end. I nearly laughed aloud.

"They all must be shown the price of their defiance." At long last, the line I had been waiting for.

The Lich King then turned to face me. I had not spoken a word yet to him, or at all since waking, and now with his attention fully on me I didn't dare.

"You will become my force of retribution." he said, stabbing his huge icy sword into the stone floor and pointing a finger at me. "Where you tread, doom will follow. Go now and claim your destiny, death knight."

I contemplated these powerful words as I went next to Instructor Razuvious, the man with the white and blue armor that had stood over me earlier. I meant more to the Lich King than I had previously thought. He saw something in me that was greater than what he saw in his other death knights. Perhaps I had been risen for that very reason, perhaps it was a trait he noticed after I was awakened, I did not know which, and at this point I didn't really care. Either way, I was his favored knight, his chosen warrior. Perhaps my loyalties were still swaying a bit before this, unsure of anything since I did not remember my living self. But if they were, they were rooted firmly in place by this realization, that I had a King to serve.

And I would do so without hesitation.

Instructor Razuvious smiled as I approached. "You've passed the Lich King's inspection then, good. Speak. You haven't spoken a word since waking."

I tried to say something, to tell him I was ready to proceed with whatever task he may have for me, but the only sound I could produce was a hoarse hiss. Somewhat embarrassed, I held up a hand for him to wait and tried again. After several unsuccessful attempts at speech I managed to find a voice somewhat understandable. It shocked me how shallow and echoing my voice was, like four of me speaking at once in all different tones.

"There we are. You'll get the bugs worked out of it soon enough." I certainly hoped he was using a metaphor here. "Now let us begin your training. The single most important piece of equipment to a death knight is the runeblade." He held up a gray sword with shining blue runes scratched into the side as an example. "It is through the runeblade that a death knight commands the powers of frost, blood and the unholy. The runeblade also acts as a vessel to store the death knight's runic power, a force you will learn to use momentarily.

"The time has come to create your first runeblade. Search the weapon racks on this floor and locate a battle-worn sword. Once found, take the sword to a nearby runeforge and use it to create a runeblade." He pointed to one of the large structures beside us. It looked like a forge, somewhat, minus the huge skull. Finding the blade was the easy part. I then approached the runeforge, aware of eyes on me, and realized I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know how to forge a sword with these runes, I didn't even know what the different runes I was showed _meant_. How was I supposed to carve a rune into this sword with my bare hands? How would I know which one to choose? How would I know how to carve it?

Quite surprisingly, I had stood there for only a moment feeling rather foolish when I suddenly knew what I must do. It wasn't a matter of steps and instructions. It was instinctive knowledge. I guessed all death knights knew, as I saw another a few forges away from mine trying to figure out what to do as well. She too let the power within her flood the blade in a visible torrent, forever marking the blade, just as I was doing.

The process left me with a hazy mind and a sense of union with… the sword? I swung the blade once, feeling it like an extension of my body, simply a third piece to my arm that I controlled with a whim. The connection was perfect, knight to blade, weapon to weapon. It was then that I first got a good look at myself. I was a blood elf, or at least, I was now. Had I always been? Or was I borrowing this body and I was once something different? I didn't know, and something told me I didn't want to know, that trying to find out would only bring frustration and possible depression.

I took note of my features, a pale, hollow, drawn face, like most of the others about Acherus, with bright glowing blue eyes. Blue had become something of a friendly color to me by now, even though the shade was one cold as ice. My hair was much the same shade, half tied back in a high ponytail. My left ear didn't quite stand up the way the right one did, but rot would do that to a body. A floppy ear on a death knight, I though, so intimidating.

Floppy ear aside, I did cut an imposing figure, though not near as powerfully as some of the leaders about this place. So this was my face, my new face. Did it always look this way? So drawn and… evil…? I wasn't sure. In the case that it hadn't, I liked the makeover. All the better for terrifying my victims witless.

I returned to Instructor Razuvious, who I knew had been watching me closely. He seemed pleased with my progress. "Well done, knight!" he smiled approvingly as I showed him the blade. "You have successfully created your first runebladed weapon. With it you will sow the seeds of chaos and destruction! In your wake will be a bloodied field of battle, littered with the corpses of all that would dare oppose the Scourge."

He short speech invigorated me. Talk of death and blood, I knew, was not normal for the living. That much knowledge, or common sense, I had retained from life. But the promise of bloodshed and battle sparked in me a flame that quickly spread throughout my body and mind, filling me with rage, pointless, directionless rage, anger at no one specific thing. Raw, untamed _hatred_. This is what gave me my power, I realized, this hatred of all things and none in particular. It was instinctive, the promise of battle woke the instinct to get angry, and therefore powerful.

Instructor Razuvious had been watching me closely, and undoubtedly saw this change of mindset.

"The mark of war is etched indelibly upon your soul, death knight." he said, as if I hadn't already noticed. "You have learned the dark art of runeforging and with it you will engrave runes of power upon your weaponry. Preparations for battle must be made. Return to one of the runeforges, here in the Heart of Acherus, and use the power of runeforging to emblazon your weapon with a rune of power! Return to me when your blade glows with dark energy!"

I nodded curtly and turned to leave. So this blade was mine now, not just some army-issued sword on loan. I liked the idea. It may not be the strongest thing in the world, but I felt a connection to it. Maybe it was the fact that it was my first instrument of doom, like a child's first toy. A rather twisted comparison, but it could be likened to that feeling very well.

I stood again before the runeforge, unsure of what I wanted my blade to do. Death knights used spells in conjunction with physical attacks, so why not a rune to make opponents weaker to my spells? With nothing more than that thought the process began again, my power flowing into the metal, engraving it. When I was done the blade shone with a shining bluish white film that dripped in places in the shape of snowflakes before dissolving into the air.

I returned once again to Instructor Razuvious and presented him with my runeblade. He smiled approvingly as he looked over the weapon.

"Remember these words, death knight." he raised hand to emphasis importance. "The runeforge is a Scourge instrument. It exists only in Acherus, Naxxramas, and the heart of Icecrown! You may only emblazon your weaponry at a runeforge. Return often and emblazon all of your weapons. A death knight must be prepared for all that would dare oppose him!"

All that would dare oppose me… Another promise of battle. I was becoming restless, wondering when they would stop promising me battle and give me a victim. But all would come in good time, rushing leaders around this place was a very bad idea and I did not want to see the results. So I nodded, committing the speech to memory. Acherus, that was where we were. Where was Naxxramas? Or Icecrown? These were facts I either hadn't known in life or hadn't retained in death. I would have to find a map of the world some time.

Instructor Razuvious wasn't done with me yet, however. His already drawn, dead face took on a more serious look. "The endless hunger will soon take hold of you, death knight."

The hunger for battle? It already had.

"When it does you will feel pain immeasurable. There is only one remedy for the suffering: the hunger must be sated."

On second thought, maybe it hadn't.

He brought a key from a ring on his belt, holding it up to my face. "I give you the key to your salvation. Chained to the Heart of Acherus are those deemed unworthy of the dark brotherhood. Use the key to free an unworthy initiate. Allow them to equip their gear and battle you for their freedom. Kill and the pain will cease. Fail and suffer for eternity."

Failure really was not an option around here…

"Live or die -- the choice is yours to make."

I took the key, half unwillingly, have eagerly. Finally, the chance to shed some blood! But at the same time the instructor had succeeded at striking a fear in me, fear of being weak, failing, and falling into the endless pain.

Endless pain, all the death knights felt it. But I felt just fine, other than an itchy hilt hand. Maybe I wouldn't feel the pain like the others did. First time for everything, after all.

Of course I was foolish to think this. No sooner than the words had formed in my mind I was assaulted by the pain, terrible hellfire ripping at my skin, my muscles, my bones, my very mind. It was worse than the pain I remembered from waking, much worse. I didn't imagine anything could possibly feel worse than that, but I was so very wrong. My vision blacked, all I could feel was the burning and my sword, my runeblade, and the ever-present _hate_. It came suddenly, enough to knock me down. I knew Instructor Razuvious watched, but that thought wasn't as pronounced as before with the horrible fire tearing me apart.

Who needs steps, I thought, and leapt down into the area of chained initiates. The first one I laid eyes on would be my victim, I couldn't possibly stand long enough to be picky and remain sane. Fitting that he should be a blood elf as well, the same pale, drawn face and blue eyes. His hair was of a darker reddish brown. What had he been in life? Had we both been blood elves? Had we both been on the same side? Had we been mortal enemies? We certainly were now.

I rammed the key into the lock that released the ghostly chains of the soul prison. The blasted boy took the time to stand there and talk. I had no idea what he was saying, the pain had blocked my sense of hearing save for an annoying ring. He took longer still equipping his armor.

After what seemed like an eternity, he stood ready. I didn't need an indication to begin, I simply flew at him, runeblade in hand and screaming like a bat out of hell. My knowledge of battle was instinctive, it had to be, for the living didn't fight with diseases. I couldn't have possibly retained this knowledge. A disease born of ice, and another of blood, carved into his being by my blade. The strokes of red splashing to the ground around him were beautiful, enchanting, the smell alone sharpening my senses and lighting that fire, the friendly fire, the fire that burned away all sense of fear or pain. His blade bit into me as well, but I hardly felt it. Either he was a horrible fighter, or this mad frenzy deprived me of feeling pain. I suspected a bit of both was the answer.

Numerous strikes later, and a good bit of wild shouting on my part, and the blood elf fell to the ground, hissing his last breaths for the second time. I stood before him, crazed on the smell of blood and the taste of slaughter. It painted a wonderful picture, a helpless victim with no hope of surviving, and me, the victor, with no sense of mercy. In a final triumphant display of power, I raised my blade high and shoved it through his shaking chest, the tip biting into the stone floor beneath.

A most curious feeling filled me as the elf's unlife faded, euphoric and buzzing. A smile spread across my face and I began to laugh. I was giddy, I felt like I was floating. Indeed killing was an amazing thing. I wanted this feeling again, like an addict. Endless pain or not, _I wanted that feeling._

I was then aware that Instructor Razuvious was standing directly behind me, undoubtedly having watched the entire presentation.

"As expected, my chosen knight has triumphed!" he exclaimed. "You are ready."

Ready for what, I wondered. But I didn't have to wonder far. Instructor Razuvious gestured to the walls around us.

"Behold, Acherus, the grand citadel of death! It has no equal in this world! Not even the mighty Naxxramas could withstand a direct assault from the Ebon Hold." Naxxramas, I had no idea where this was still. But that hardly mattered. I was a killing machine, not a thinking one. "Looming above the face of the necropolis is the all-seeing eye of Acherus. From it the master is able to see great distances into the territories held by our enemies. What the eye sees, the Lich King sees, and now the time has come for you to peer through the eye! The Lich King has called for you, knight. Go now! Suffer well, brother…"

He needn't have told me, I could hear the voice well. 'Come' it called again. Instructor Razuvious smiled approvingly and turned away as I went towards the balcony again. The Lich King's height intimidated me again, and I figured it always would. There was no escaping the powerful nine foot tall form and his aura of domination. He began speaking as I came within earshot.

"The time to spill the blood of our enemies approaches."

I thought he'd never say it!

"You must first learn what is it you seek to destroy, before rushing headlong into battle. It is what separates a death knight from a mindless ghoul."

This was true. This Scarlet Crusade I had heard so much about was obviously made up of humans, there were a few prisoners lining the walls in the Heart of Acherus, but aside from that fact and the tidbit that they wore white and red, I had little knowledge of what these people stood for and why we were trying to kill them.

The Lich King pointed to a tower with a transparent, bluish eye floating above the point. "I will grant you sight beyond sight, my champion. You will use the eye of Acherus to gather information on our agents. Towering above this platform is the eye of Acherus. From it you will call forth a probe that you will then use to analyze Scarlet Crusade fortifications at New Avalon. The eye has a host of powers that should make the acquisition of this data simple. Use the eye's siphon to analyze the forge, town hall, hold, and chapel. The eye's control mechanisms are located on either side of this platform."

He turned away from me with a final dangerous warning. "Waste no more time, knight. The Scourge will have this place. The Lich King demands it!"

I nodded curtly and left, eager to see exactly what this eye could do. Again, I had no idea how to take control of the thing, but it seemed to be instinctive once more. Gazing into the smaller version of the eye, my mind seemed to leave my body standing where it was and shot through the sky to the east. This was the eye of Acherus, this 'sight' without sight, sight of the mind and not the body. A bluish film surrounded me, indicating that my mind was indeed inside the eye. After a while, the autopilot kicked off and I found that I could move the eye with a thought. Left, right, up, down, turn around, stop, all I required was a thought and it obeyed.

After I had gotten over my wonder at my control of the eye, I took the time to look around. It was disgusting, repulsive, the sight of the humans below, their pitiful armies and warriors, it made me so angry. But now was not the time for fighting, now was the time for learning, all the better to be at fighting. The forge came first because it was nearest. The wretches didn't even see my approach from the skies, mortal eyes focused on the ground. Again nothing but a thought and the forge was analyzed, a bright stream of ice blue light flashing from the forge and into the eye.

I set off for the hold, the next nearest object, thinking this would be a breeze and I could start killing in no time. However I underestimated the humans, who had put better warriors on guard here. This was the first of many lessons, never underestimate an enemy, even a vile, filthy human one. They saw the eye and fired arrows. I knew the eye was weak, but I didn't know its limits well, so I sought cover above the roof and summoned a horde of ghouls below to distract the humans. They were weak ghouls and would die in a few hits, but they bought me enough time to analyze the hold and flee.

Once safely out of range, I rethought my plans. Come in cloaked and from the back, leave the same way, this was my plan for the town hall which went over nicely. The foolish creatures below went on about being safe without knowing that death itself rested atop their precious town hall. I would have laughed aloud, but simple functions like laughing didn't work normally while controlling the eye. Next came their prized chapel, the symbol of their defiance against me, against the Lich King. I could not wait to be given the command to slaughter every last priest in the place. But again, now was no the time for fighting. I needed to get a handle on my anger and quickly, there were more guards patrolling here than anywhere else. I slipped past them cloaked and waiting for a break in their paths, for the eye came off its stealth while analyzing a place. There had to be no one around to see it. Patience, I was learning, would be invaluable in this second life. When the proper time came, I set the eye to analyze the chapel and soared for the sky as soon as it had finished. It still took mild damage from a single arrow fired a fraction of a second too late, but it was in good condition and my task was complete.

I watched their arrows fly futilely, bound to fall a few yards short of the eye, before recalling the eye. I was returned to my body with a strange tingling sensation, the airy and light feeling of the eye gone. Head still slightly in the clouds, I returned to the Lich King. He had seen everything I had seen, everything the eye had seen, and I knew there was no need to tell him so I approached waiting for new orders.

"They prepare for battle--as I expected." He said, gazing thoughtfully out over the lands below. "But there is something else. I sense an old enemy. An enemy that I destroyed long ago…"

That was strange. Since when did the Lich King's enemies come back?

"It matters not. We will send the full might of the Scourge against them before they have a chance to evacuate their homes and put in place their defenses. Listen well, death knight, for I give to you the words that will start a war."

I had to stop myself from shouting and grabbing my runeblade at this point. All this talk of war had better result in some actual fighting, or I would be very put out.

"My final judgment has been passed: Death. To. All. None shall stand so boldly against the might of the Scourge without reprisal! As you have served me well in your first task, so too shall you serve me in your next task. Take my judgment to Highlord Mograine at the command post of Acherus, found on the first floor. Tell him to begin the assault."

He turned away as I nodded. "And when the Crusade has been dealt with, we will finish off the Argent Dawn."

_Finally!_ This promise of war was getting somewhere! I thought it would go on and on without some actual slaughter. I ran eagerly into the Heart of Acherus and looked around quite foolishly for steps. But there were no steps in Acherus. Instead I spotted another knight stepping onto a platform in between the two curved staircases that lead to the Lich King's balcony. The platform was circular and had an eye carved into the middle. The knight was warped away before I had a chance to blink.

This had to be the link to the lower level. I felt rather stupid going up to this platform timidly, having no idea what I was doing. As soon as I touched it I was enveloped in a soft pink light and a feeling much like being sucked through a straw. In a flash the light was gone and the sensation as well, and I found myself standing before another platform like the first. But a I looked around I found that I had indeed been warped to a different level. It was darker here, more menacing, with four smaller alcoves to three sides and a balcony to the fourth. The alcoves were interesting, all different colors. The one directly across from the balcony was red, the one to the right green and the one to the left blue. I had no idea what this meant, or even if I wanted to know, but I was sure I was bound to find out.

I looked towards the center of the room where Highlord Mograine stood. He cut a figure equally as imposing as the Lich King himself, proudly mounted on an armored dead horse. The beast's hooves glowed with iridescent ice blue flames and its eyes shone with unnatural life, contrasting the red of its armor. Highlord Mograine himself was no less intimidating, deep blue armor covered in vicious spikes, helm bearing a set of wicked horns, and all that was visible of his face was the threatening blue glow of his eyes.

"What is it, knight?" he asked as I approached. His voice was certainly one meant for commanding power and respect, hollow as death itself and echoing, laced with pride and determination. He sounded younger than most about the place. I briefly wondered if he (or at least that body) had died young or if it was just his voice.

I relayed the Lich King's message and I could tell the leader was grinning. "The horns of war will soon echo across this land, waking the dead and calling forth the Scourge war machine. Woe unto those that would stand in our way!" he raised a fist valiantly.

"You and your brethren will lead the charge, knight. When I next look upon the Scarlet lands, my sights will be obscured by the legions of Acherus. The march upon New Avalon begins now."

He then addressed the entire army of the Scourge, through some sort of telepathy I assumed, for I heard the shouts clear as day in my ears as well as in my mind. "Armies of the Scourge, hear my call! The scarlet apocalypse has begun! Tear this land asunder and leave only death in your wake!"

The entire place came alive with shouting ghouls and cries of battle from other knights racing to the balcony. Adrenaline kicked in and I shivered with anticipation. This was it. This was the moment I was waiting for. The moment when I would lead the revolution against the petty humans burdening the land below, the moment when I would be turned loose to kill any and everything that moved. I simply could not wait!

As if in response to this anticipation I felt a peculiar spell being cast on my and found my movements quicker than before. I looked to Highlord Mograine, who had undoubtedly been the cause of this.

"Scourge Commander Thalanor awaits your arrive at the overhang located directly southeast of our current position." he told me. "Report to Thalanor and requisition a Scourge gryphon to deliver you to Death's Breach. Prince Valanar will be waiting for you down below. Suffer well, brother!"

A nodded sharply and obeyed, eager to get into some bloodshed. I could not run twice as fast as before, not that I had tried running at top speed before yet. But I figured it was somewhere in that range. Upon reaching the balcony I found the man that was, without a doubt, Scourge Commander Thalanor. He too was a blood elf, what was it with all the blood elves around here? Did we die more than others in life? Maybe that wasn't a good thing. I decided to not think about it any longer.

"The war has begun, death knight!" he shouted with a wicked grin as I came nearer. "I shall place you on my finest gryphon and deliver you to Death's Breach. Chaos, death, destruction! You will herald in all of this and more!"

The gryphons were quite interesting, being nothing but bone. They were gentle enough, to those of us who were also dead. I happened to spy a nacromancer coming back from a trip to Death's Breach that lost a hand to one of the beasts. I became grateful for the bulky, awkward saddle that I was having difficulties with, because the creature's bony back did not look at all comfortable.

Scourge Commander Thalanor rode up to me seated on one of the proud animals. "Below Acherus stands Death's Breach, the staging point for our assault upon the Scarlet Crusade. You are to ride one of my Scourge gryphons and report to Prince Valanar. Do as he says and you may live to see these lands fall before us."

I write this now before I leave, wondering with much interest what awaits me below. This Prince Valanar character does not sound like a friendly one, or perhaps Scourge Commander Thalanor was simply reinforcing the theme that failure was not an option in Acherus. Either way I cannot wait to see the glorious bloodshed that awaits…


End file.
